Northwest ports scrambling after Hanjin files for bankruptcy

SEATTLE (AP) — Marine ports in the Pacific Northwest are adjusting after South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. announced its filing for bankruptcy.

Hanjin, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, is the main customer at Terminal 46 in Seattle. KING-TV reported that the terminal wasn’t releasing empty containers and exports after the Aug. 31 announcement.

Hanjin and other shipping companies across the world have been impacted by a decline in trade in recent years.

Tara Mattina with the Northwest Ports Alliance says she isn’t sure of the long term impacts, but that shipping lines are losing billions of dollars.

Hanjin once provided most of the Port of Portland’s container cargo service before leaving the port in February 2015.